Never Be Afraid
by endofall
Summary: There I sat. Shivering in my icy fortress. It wouldn’t be long now, before I abandoned it. I nursed my broken arm. I could never last in this snow for more than 10 minutes. I wasn’t about to go home either. My father’s words flew back to me."
1. Chapter One

Never Be Afraid Chapter One: Fortress  
  
There I sat. Shivering in my icy fortress. It wouldn't be long now, before I abandoned it. I nursed my broken arm. I could never last in this snow for more than 10 minutes. I wasn't about to go home either. My father's words flew back to me. So deafening. The bitter voice cutting through the icy snow, I could not tune it out. "Draco! You are seventeen! And it is time that you went to your first Death Eater ceremony. There, you shall become one of us." I never wanted to be a Death Eater. Never could I follow in my father's icy footsteps toward evil. While it's true, no one ever accused me of being a kind, good-hearted person, still it didn't mean I was to be evil did it?  
  
"Father, It's just…I-" I attempted, a sharp blow struck my face. With pleading eyes, I stared up at him, begging him not to do what he was about to. I felt a trickle of blood gently slide down my upper lip, my nose, wet with blood. My father came closer, and I stepped back. "Now, Draco. None of that. No, no. Be a man. If you're to be a Death Eater, we can't have you cry over a bloody nose." "I'm not crying." I said, all fear leaving and swift anger replacing it. "Oh- You're not?" My father asked rhetorically, amusement and fury merged in his eyes. My own eyes teared, due to the severity of the blow. He shoved me sharply into a wall. "Let's see how much you can take- before you're reduced to tears." With that he delivered a swift jab to my stomach. I crumpled in agony. I did not cry- unwilling to fulfill my father's wish. I glared with determination.  
  
Slowly, I eased myself up, only to be jabbed several more times in the same place. I could feel blackness fading in, encompassing my world. He dragged me up by the collar of my shirt and pulled my face merely an inch from his own. In a whisper, each word dripping with malice, he said, "You foolish boy. You can't escape the pain. There is nothing you can do. Nowhere you can go. No one to go to. You're life has been in vain. And all of it will lead to the dark side. Surprise." His malice…such malice. I shivered. He slapped me and flung me by my arm to the floor with such force, it snapped. Pain throbbed from, every fiber of my being. "I will-I will." I choked from the floor. "Never. Never do what…you say." I angrily panted. I attempted to crawl away. He kicked me. His little game of cat and mouse was not over.  
  
"What was that?" His fury no stranger to me, I knew. The worst was yet to come. He had uttered that last statement so loudly and angrily…it was enough for my mother to hear and come to see what the commotion was. She knew also, what was about to happen. "Lucious!" She begged, seeing my crumpled in a ball on the floor. In too much agony to even blink my eyes. "Narcissa. Do not involve yourself." Lucious yelled. "Lucious, don't!" She wailed, begging of him. He whirled around viciously grabbing her wrist and yanking her closer to him. My mother sobbed hopelessly. She had bought me enough time to scuttle to safety. I crawled past my father, knowing he would continue first with my mother, 'putting her in her place'. I stumbled painfully to and was able to run as hard as I could. I heard my father's yelling. "I will find you, Draco! And then, no one else will!"  
  
So, here. Now, I found myself aching horribly. Only a mile from home. A wonder I made it so far. Adrenaline will drive you to do near impossible things, things you could never do when your life was not at risk. Within a matter of minutes, my shock wore off, and excruciating pain and fatigue took its place. And then…blackness.  
  
You can think funny things when you awake from unconsciousness in a snowy cave. When I awoke, I thought I was home. Sleeping in my bed, with no yelling. That should've been my first clue. I sat shivering in the frigid cave. The ice had absorbed all my body heat. There was no way I could survive here for much longer. Carefully, I crawled out, cringing at the bloodstained snow. My arm was broken badly this time. After breaking the same arm three times within the same year, it gets easier to tell what condition it was in. I attempted to stand, my dizziness would not allow it. Gingerly, I sat in the snow, hoping the pain would wear off. The icy wind whipped across my face, and blew my hair into frenzy. My father was right about one thing, "There is nothing you can do. Nowhere you can go. No one you can go to. Your life has been in vain."  
  
I tried to think. Where could I go? I certainly could not go to a friend's house. The Death Eaters would surely be on the lookout for me. But…I couldn't go to a wizarding hospital. They'd want a name and address. I'm sure they'd contact my father. Maybe Hogwarts. But there was no use thinking of that. There was no way I could get there in my state. I needed immediate help, or my arm would mend crookedly. I could go to a house…and owl Dumbledore. Maybe he would come get me. I was sure that Madam Pomfrey would be there, to mend my arm. That was the best plan I had. Wearily, I began to survey my surroundings. To my left, bleak green woods. To my right, a stream. The woods continued along on all sides of me. I crawled slowly to the edge of the river. I saw in the ice, my reflection. A boy, who'd been roughed up pretty badly.  
  
A black welt fringing his eye. His nose and upper lip were caked in dry blood. His lip was puffy. Blonde hair come loose from its precise slicked back style, whisping along his jaw line, in the gentle, chilly breeze. His right arm hung limply from its socket. Uselessly. His wand? At home.  
  
I sighed heavily and rose my left arm to attempt to wipe the blood from my face. Slightly better but not quite a model. Slowly, I tried to get to my feet. And luckily, I did so without blacking out or being overwhelmed by dizziness. I trudged slowly, shuffling through the woods for what felt like hours. My right arm limply tucked around my bruised and quite possibly, broken ribs. Finally, I came upon a small, wooden cottage hidden in this wooded wonderland. I crept, gathering my strength, walking toward it. A mere 10 feet away. Staggering I reached the door and knocked as hard as I could. "Help." I muttered falling down and sinking back into the darkness that I'd come to know far too well.  
  
I found myself lying upon a blue cushioned sofa. A blanket draped over me. A fire crackled in the hearth. I blinked wondering where I was. In a rush, I remembered that I had blacked out on someone's porch. A frail old woman shuffled behind the sofa that was positioned facing the far wall. She must have heard me stirring, because she approached me and grinned a toothless smile. I sat up wincing at the pain in my middle. "Ah- so you're awake." She said softly. "Can I get you some tea?" I nodded shortly and she slowly made her way over to where the kitchen must have been. I wondered how such a woman could have gotten me inside. A tapestry hung over the fireplace and photographs of moving young people sat on the mantle. Moving photographs. That answered my question. She walked back over and handed me the tea. "Thank You." I replied sipping it slowly. She smiled kindly. "Ah- " She followed my gaze to the mantle. "My grandchildren." She beamed with pride. "I have one not much younger than you. Poor thing. Whatever happened to you, dearie?" Compassionately, her wide, faded, blue eyes showing sadness. "I- " I said hoarsely, not realizing that I hadn't spoken for hours. "Had a bit of an accident." I lied. I couldn't turn in my father. The last thing I needed was his plotting revenge.  
  
"And quite an accident it must have been!" She exclaimed, "Poor child! Could never have left you there. All blue in the face and unconscious. Not to mention beat up." "Thank you, I-" I began. "No, no! You, Don't try to talk. Try to get some rest. We'll talk later. " She said taking my cup and gently easing me down and pulled the blanket back over my chest. Smiling as I closed my eyes, she took out her wand as she blew out the candles. 


	2. Chapter Two

Never Be Afraid

Chapter Two

Rubbing my eyes, I sat up. Scratching the back of my neck I squinted at my surroundings. Suddenly and without warning, a flood of emotion overcame me so intensely that my eyes closed in shock.

I shook my head and stood up. Either a good night's sleep really helps, or this old woman knew her magic. I was guessing it was the latter. Not even a good night's sleep could set and completely heal a

fractured arm. The old woman was sitting in a kitchen chair, sipping some herbal tea with a very overpowering scent. I began to fold the blanket I had used, starting to feel somewhat of an invalid and slowed my folding process.

"Ah, You're up." She said glancing up from her tea. I gave her a short nod in reply. "You know. I think you're looking a lot better today." She said with a knowing smile. "With thanks to you, of course." I said, "Thank You." "Ah It's nothing no one else wouldn't have done." She said waving a deeply lined hand, her peach nail polish glimmering in the light. Light was pouring in through the old windows, curtains drawn. In such bright daylight, her little cabin looked magnificently cheery.

"Do you need to contact someone?" She said suddenly. "I'm not meaning to be rid of you. Not by any means! I'm in no hurry to empty my house- my granddaughter will be

stopping by, I just thought you may need to contact someone?" She asked. "I do, if it's not too much trouble." I replied coming around the side of the sofa awkwardly to meet her in the kitchen. Rolling her eyes she stood up. "Are you this polite at home, boy?" She asked rhetorically with a sly smile. "By the way, We didn't get very far in the way of introductions last night. My name is Loretta Brown." She thrust her hand at me in a somewhat business-like nature. I shook her hand while saying my own name. Loretta nodded and opened a drawer, fumbling around until she came across a quill, parchment, and an inkwell. She set the items down on the table. "Go on and write. I'll fetch Ashes."

"Professor Dumbledore-

I'm not quite sure how to word this. I'm currently...Out of my home. I don't know for how long...and well, you're the only one that I could think of to help me.

I'm currently at a witch by the name of Loretta Brown's house. I'm not sure what to do. If you could owl me back, please, I'd really appreciate it.

Draco Malfoy"

With a small shudder, I rolled up the parchment. If father knew that I had written to Dumbledore... "Here we go!" Loretta re-entered the room with a shiny, inky black owl on her arm, flapping it's wings erratically. With a laugh, she took my parchment and attached it to the owl's leg and was about to draw her arm back to launch it, when it launched itself out the window in a black blur. She shook her head. "Ashes is yet a baby. I must remember that."

"Anyway. What's your story, kid?" Loretta eased herself slowly with a sigh into her chair. I leaned against the counter. "I have no story." I said simply. "Sure you do. Every bloke's got a story. From the queen of England to the lowliest bum on the street. I know you've got to be somewhere in between." Loretta grinned at her own joke. I opened my mouth to continue, when a girl rushed in the door at top speed barely muttering "Hey Gram.".

Immediately, she made her way to a cabinet and triumphantly extracted a bag of Doritos, staring straight ahead. With a small grunt of achievement, her eyes darted around as she stood and closed the cabinet with her foot. She tugged the bag open, plunged her hand in and extracted a chip. Smiling, she bit off a triangle. "So what's up, Gram?" She asked, eyes still darting around the room in an unorganized fashion. "Draco. I'd like you to meet my granddaughter Jacqueline." Loretta announced clearly amused. "Wha?" The Dorito paused mid-flight to her mouth. "Gram..." Jacqueline said slowly. "Why didn't you tell me that there was someone here?"

"Well, you didn't seem to really mind." Loretta replied cooly. "There was no way I could have known!" Jacqueline whimpered. "You know that, Gram!". "Guess it just slipped my mind, watching the whirlwind of a show and all..."

"Gram! Usually I don't have to mind my manners..." Jacqueline said, this time directed at Draco. "Where are you, Was it Draco?" She asked. "Yes, I'm Draco." I said moving forward and shaking her hand. "I'm Jack." She said with a pointed glare at her grandmother. "I'm sorry. I'm not usually so...barbaric." She smiled, clearly embarrassed. "It's fine..." I assured her. "So, what brings you to my Gram's house. It's not usually the hang out of choice for most." Jack was not forgiving her grandmother this easily. "Um...Well..." I fumbled. How do you explain something like that?

"He's the son of a close friend of mine." Loretta said. "Isn't that right, Draco?" "Uh...Yeah." I said squinting at her. "I thought you two might get on well. So I invited him over." She continued with an encouraging nod. Skeptically, Jack narrowed her eyes. "Is that so?" I nodded furtively, and then realized that she couldn't see that. "Yes." I vocalized. Jack cocked the bag of Doritos at me in a peace offering. I selected one and thanked her. "Ugh. I feel so embarrassed." Jack made a face.

I was about to assure her again that it wasn't that big of a deal when Ashes flew back through the window. His wings flapped so rapidly that Jack was holding her black hair down so as to not be ruffled. "That bird..." Loretta muttered as she held out her arm as a perch. He landed less than gracefully, and she removed the parchment as he dug into her shirt pocket for a treat. "Oh please, help yourself." Thrusting the parchment at me with one hand, she fended him off her pocket with the other.


End file.
